Kim Novak decided to walk away from Hollywood in 1966, at the height of her fame, because it felt like the right thing to do. The screen legend, now 92, also trusted her instincts last year when director Alexandre O. Philippe asked her to be the subject of a documentary.

“I felt somehow that it was meant to be,” says Novak.

Philippe’s doc “ Kim Novak’s Vertigo ” blends rare archival footage with personal reflections from Novak to trace her path from mid-century cinema icon to a fiercely private artist.

“I thought it was a good idea to make [this film] in a way because it was a chance to wrap up my life,” says Novak. “Like you would in a confessional, I expressed the things that mattered and meant something to my life.”

The film debuted Sept. 1 at the Venice Film Festival , where No

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